Oct 21, 2014 | Mbrennan | 824 views
Cyclones Thump Thunder in Home Opener
The Peewee AE Cyclones finally had their season opener Monday night when the Zurich Thunder came rolling in. After a 3-0 loss in an exhibition match against the Milverton Drives last Saturday, the Cyclones played a much tighter, more disciplined game, and ended up quieting the Thunder.
Barely 2 minutes into the first period, Nick opened the scoring and gave the Cycs an early lead by driving in from the neutral zone, assisted by Owen. With 3 minutes to go, a mad scramble in front of Zurich’s net ended with Maddox knocking one in from his back, with help from Jacob and Bret, giving the Cycs a 2-0 lead at the end of the first.
Only a few seconds into the second, the Thunder found their way through the Cycs defense to put one past Myles, narrowing the lead and giving the crowd a reason to move closer to the edge of their seats. The rest of the second would see the Cycs playing shorthanded, including a 5 on 3, for the bulk of the period. But, Myles’ solid presence and quick hands in net, combined with a shorthanded goal by Kris (assisted by Jacob and, newly minted defenseman, Bo) maintained the Cycs 2 goal lead with a score of 3-1.
Halfway through the second, Justin fired a laser from the point, assisted by Owen and Nick, in what would prove to be the game winning goal, putting the score at 4-1. After a number of narrow misses by Cycs offense on the Thunder net, Bret found the mesh, with help from Maddox and Jacob, to end the second.
With two of our feisty defensemen in the penalty box to begin the third, the Cycs showed off their penalty killing prowess until Connor could rejoin the teams efforts to keep the Thunder off of Myles’ doorstep. Brayden, Liam and Johnny kept up the defensive pressure, grinding and chipping the puck out of the defensive zone, to hold the Cycs score at 5-1, until twenty seconds apart, Seth and Kris both hammered in goals, thanks to solid passing from Brett R. Halfway through the third, the Cycs were leading 7-1.
With the crowd (not to mention Myles) enjoying the pounding beat from the booth, the Thunder gained a bit of momentum, scoring their second at 5:34. Seconds later, the Cycs would find themselves shorthanded again, but managed to defend their net, thanks to Matt, Connor and Bo, until 1:25, when a very happy Thunder player would score his third goal of the game, giving him a hat trick, but the Cyclones the victory. The Cyclones win 7-3.
Check out the Peewee AE Cyclones next Monday when they meet Saugeen Shores on home ice.